Career Paths

*THAT* Question: what do you want to bewhen you grow up?

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*THAT* Decision: Should I go tograd-school?

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*THAT* Debate: Academia vs. Industry

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Are we qualified? J

✘ S.L.: Graduate School – Industry (both startup and large corporate research org) – Academia

✘ S.Y:. Industry (both startup and large corporate)-Graduate School-Academia

✘ J.K.: Industry-Graduate School-Academia✘ Not all, but some important transitions covered…

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What have you learnt from your

BSc?

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What is possible after BSc?

✘ Enter graduate school✘ Find a job✘ Start a business

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Graduate School

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(B.S. : Bullshit Bachelor of Science )

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Graduate School

✘ Decisions○ Area + Supervisor○ Domestic vs. International○ Combined MSc/PhD vs. MSc + PhD

✘ Refer to Lecture 2 “how to choose area and supervisor” for the first two points

✘ Combined MSs/PhD: slightly shorter (?) but you may get more tightly coupled to your topic from early on

✘ MSc + PhD: a chance to reset (don’t have to!), an opportunity to defend thesis, a possible early exit J

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Find a Job

✘ Decisions○ Small company/startup vs. large corporations○ Domestic vs. International○ Salary

✘ A lot similar to choosing a research group○ Are people working there happy? Still growing/developing?○ Do they get adequately rewarded/compensated/appraised?○ Does the area have a bright future?○ Is the organisation financially secure?○ What is the leadership like?

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Find a Job

✘ Types of Employers○ Start-ups○ SME○ Large Corporations (Samsung, FANG/FAAMG, etc)○ Research Institutions – both public and private (ETRI, AIRI, etc)○ Financial Firms

✘ Types of Roles○ Research-oriented: Samsung Research, Microsoft Research…○ Development-oriented: Samsung Electronics, Apple…

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Start a Business

✘ Decisions○ Do I have sufficient technical edge? Or is it just an idea?○ It requires blood, toil, sweat, and tears: am I prepared?

✘ Possible Exit Plans○ Acquisitions○ M&A○ IPO

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What is possible after MSc?

✘ Enter graduate school, again, but for a PhD○ This time, you know what you’re signing up to○ And you are willingly joining the grind J

✘ Find a job○ With a bit of compensation for your hard-earned degree○ Research institution becomes a more viable option

✘ Start a business○ Hopefully better equipped with technical expertise

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What is possible after PhD?

✘ Enter graduate school, yet again, but as a faculty member○ Post-doctoral researcher position○ Tenured-track faculty position (research & teaching tracks)

✘ Find a job○ Remember that you monotonically get over-qualified

✘ Start a business○ Again, risks may get higher as you grow older

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What is possible after PhD?

✘ Post-doc○ (Used to be) rarer in US (where PhDs tend to take longer), more

common in European institutions○ Transition from PhD candidate to an independent researcher

■ You get to co-supervise students■ You get to teach classes (depending on regulations, etc)■ Ideally you will start writing your own grant proposals■ Necessarily you should start working on a new topic that is

independent from your PhD

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Can I do research in a company?

✘ Yes! But…○ In general, research does not immediately create revenue○ Different organisations have tried different approaches to

reconcile research with developments, e.g., MSR, Google, Bell Lab○ Companies will re-org regularly: will your division survive?

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The Top Talent of Tech Disruptors and Titans- A report by Paysa (link)

The age-old debate:Academia vs.

Industry27

“Where should I go?”

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There is no science to this. Everything that follows is intended to be polemic just to stimulate the discussion. Also many points are personal thoughts,

and may not represent even all three of us J

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What type of thinker are you?✘ I want to know certain things just for

the curiosity’s sake.

✘ Purity and elegance are important.

✘ I want to solve a problem that I like, that I define.

✘ I like to conduct experiments of which I have the total control.

✘ Anything that does not have practical utility is useless.

✘ Economic efficiency is important.

✘ I want to solve a problem that will have the maximum impact.

✘ I want my experiment to go out in the wild and spread out.

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What type of rewards do you seek?✘ Prestige and heritage

✘ I am okay with the fact that my “performance” is hard to measure

✘ I am okay with the fact that my “impact” may happen 20 years later

✘ I enjoy seeing/helping students/junior researchers developing

✘ Social/market impact and money

✘ Measurable, quantitative performance indicators are essential

✘ I thrive in quarterly evaluation interviews

✘ I’d rather do my own work better, for which I require the best manpower possible

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Academia vs. Industry✘ Can deeply specialize in a topic

✘ Can learn problem solving skills (how to read papers, how to communicate your outcome…)

✘ Can manage your own life (risks follow, of course)

✘ Academic institutions tend to be more conservative and move slowly

✘ Experience diverse people

✘ Can develop maturity as an adult

✘ You implement someone else’s goal, following their plan

✘ Companies have to move fast, and may be able to use resources and budgets that are beyond the reach of academic institutions

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One Big Point

✘ Grad school/academia is not inherently a better/more noble/more prestigious option than industry○ You’ve been trained to study hard, with the belief that studying

further on is intrinsically good: NO.○ It is simply yet another option, with different opportunities○ Academia/grad school is not about “studying”○ A degree does not guarantee anything!

✘ Recommended reading○ Why it is not a failure to leave academia – Nature (link)○ What happens when academics quit? Good things, it turns out –

Times Higher Education (link) 33

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The PhD Factory- Nature (link)

Supply & Demand

✘ World as a whole is producing more PhDs than ever✘ In Korea, population is dwindling with no hint of recovery

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Supply & Demand

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Short-term Advice

✘ Think/act globally, whether you are targeting academia or industry✘ It will produce better research, and✘ It will open more doors✘ Do not just think of this as “job/vocation”

○ Align things with your long-term life vision✘ Do not get too swayed by money too early in your career

○ If you are doing good work, things will eventually even out○ There are other forms of rewards○ Academia/industry provide different trade-offs

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That’s IT!

✘ Don’t forget the final assignment, which is the post-course survey (due 24th June 2pm)○ Undergrads: http://bit.ly/i2r_post_survey_undergrad○ Graduate school: http://bit.ly/i2r_post_survey_grad

✘ Don’t be strangers: doors open J✘ Good luck with finals, stay safe, and have a great summer!

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